Organisations

VICTORIA Borwick, until last autumn director of the Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fairs, has joined Florida-based IFAE (International Fine Art Expositions) as a fair director.

UK: LAPADA have announced the appointment of John Newgas from June 1 as chief executive to succeed Malcolm Hord.

In the second major Internet shill bidding case, three people have been charged with running a scheme that boosted the sale prices of hundreds of pieces of Lalique glass auctioned on eBay.

British Art Market Federation lobbying has persuaded the Department of Trade and Industry to provide grants for 13 LAPADA members to exhibit at a Chicago antiques fair.

THE influence of eBay in the online antiques trade has increased further with the announcement of an online deal with sothebys.com.

USA: Butterfields Auctioneers are cutting their Los Angeles staff by more than half as part of a major restructuring programme that will lead to a greater focus on San Francisco.

LAPADA, the Association of Dealers, have been preparing their members with a useful guide on how to adapt to the euro for when they conduct business in Europe.

A DEALER in antique prints has complained to eBay that the promotion of reproduction prints in the antiques category is slowly destroying the online market for originals.

LAPADA, the UK’s largest association of professional art and antiques dealers, is pioneering a new scheme that could see it merge with a leading European association.

UPWARDS of 200 invited guests arrived at the Tate Britain on Tuesday night last week to celebrate one of the most notable successes in the art trade in recent years.The occasion: the fifth anniversary dinner for the British Art Market Federation.

CHECKOUT, the payment feature introduced by eBay last month to streamline transactions, is to be altered following a campaign against it by sellers.

THE British Art Market Federation has been named the winner in the Best Public Affairs Campaign category of trade magazine PR Week’s annual awards scheme.

Listed on eBay on October 15 with an opening bid of just $75, within seven days this gold plastic PEZ space gun dating from the late 1950s/early ’60s had attracted a final bid of $6262 (£4540). At today’s prices, that’s more than 22 times the cost of an ounce of real gold.

MALCOLM HORD has announced that he is to retire as chief executive of LAPADA, the Association of Art and Antique Dealers, at the end of May next year.

A NEW survey has just been published showing how much better fine period furniture has proved as an investment compared to the stock market and property over the past 30 years.

Lovers of matters horticultural and supporters of the National Trust will be able to combine both interests this month. Sotheby’s September 25 sale of Garden Statuary and architectural items at Billingshurst includes a special 21-lot section titled The National Trust Gardens Year Auction comprising items donated to the Trust for sale as part of its Gardens Year celebrations with the aim of raising money for its Gardens Fund.

On September 11 Ebay suspended trading in all items relating to the World Trade Center or the Pentagon until October 1 as a mark of respect to victims and their families.

eBay has beaten predictions once again in its latest set of results, showing impressive growth in revenues as well as in the number of registered users.

UK: JONATHAN Horne, the well-known British ceramics dealer, pictured centre, has been elected the new chairman of the British Antique Dealers Association. He follows John Bly, pictured left. Also pictured is the Rt Hon Peter Brooke CH, who has been elected President of the BADA for the seventh year.

ANGELA Nevill has been elected chairman of the Society of London Art Dealers and Christopher Battiscombe will take over as general secretary at the beginning of September from Neil Smith, who retires at the end of July.